10-07-2019
Paco Roncero appears on the multimedia walls of Sublimotion, the restaurant in Ibiza inside the Hard Rock Hotel
After visiting the cheapest starred restaurant in the world, in Singapore (see We’ve been too the cheapest starred restaurant in the world, Hawker Chan), of course we had to visit its opposite. Sublimotion is considered the most expensive place in the universe. In order to sit at its only table, seating 12 people, you must land in Ibiza, which is a pretty jewel especially if you avoid July and August, when the island, where usually live 150,000 people, is invaded by two million tourists – with a recent positive trend: less visitors, but of better quality, which means with a higher budget.
This trend has attracted the attention of many people. While the tourists improve, the offer must also improve, including the restaurants (whether it was the other way round, it’s something that would require further discussion). Indeed, many have opened a restaurant in Ibiza: Albert and Ferran Adrià for instance, have opened Heart in collaboration with the Cirque du Soleil; and there are other famous and starred Spanish chefs, like Sergi Arola and Ricardo Sanz; as well as the omnipresent Nobu Matsuhisa and our own Gennaro Esposito, with IT Ibiza. The most exclusive and desired experience, however, is another. It’s the one offered at Sublimotion, "the leading gastronomic performance in the world", according to their claim.
Paco Roncero... in a moment of relax
This is the result of the creativity of chef Paco Roncero, an ex-pupil of Ferran and an established professional now (he was born in 1969), two Michelin stars at his La Terraza del Casino in the heart of Madrid. He even participated in Identità Golose Milano, at the beginning of that adventure, see Paco Roncero: avantagarde, tradition, Spain, theworld. Back in 2014 (so we’ve now arrived at the sixth season) he decided to open a strictly seasonal restaurant, open from June to September, that would be a synthesis of gastronomy and show, embracing different disciplines, in and original fusion: fine dining, technology, music, design, cinema, and magic too. All this for 12 lucky guests ready to spend 1,650 euros (including Vat) for the entrance ticket. Ah, it’s always sold out.
Given the uniqueness of this project, one should give some further explanation. From outside, the restaurant appears like a rather featureless parallelepiped, inside the Hard Rock Hotel, a huge five-star hotel with 493 rooms and music everywhere. So basically you dive into a rather estranging atmosphere; it a holiday-show concept which in the end feels rather engaging.
The Hard Rock Hotel
Roncero, moreover, over the years have also got other fine food people involved: Diego Guerrero, Dani García, Toño Pérez, Paco Torreblanca... This is the concept: a menu divided into 12 moments or so, with over twenty tastings, 5 or 6 of which are signed by prominent colleagues, the other all by the ineffable Paco. This year, for instance, the "guest brigade" is entirely female: three-starred Elena Arzak from San Sebastiàn, and Peruvian Pía León (Latin America’s Best female chef in 2018 for the World’s 50 Best Restaurants); and then Slovenian Ana Roš (Best female chef in the world, in 2017, also for the 50Best) and, from Singapore, pastry-chef Janice Wong (Asia's Best Pastry Chef 2015).
A cast of stars, as one would say for a film. And just as if this were a Hollywood production, all the performance is based on sophisticated multimedia projections (starting from the table itself, which is in fact a huge digital screen) and the table-setting is designed by engineers, designers and programmers: they call it Hybrid Reality, which means there’s a completely virtual environment, where dishes interact with what is on the side, by which we don’t mean salad and potatoes.
Some thoughts:
1) the menu is, objectively, of the highest standards. And not so much – and not only – because of the chefs, in fact the guest chefs (of course: Arzak does her job, which is a lot; and the same applies to Pía León and, a little below, Janice Wong for the desserts. While Ana Roš’s offer didn’t fully convince us, it seems a little below her standards, unlike Roncero’s mastery. Indeed, he was very good at keeping the stalks high – there was a clear risk of turning everything into something for the nouveaux riches – with a series of rich, sparkling (this is tecno-emotion, after all), but equally precise, elegant, harmonious, classy dishes. He’s very talented, there’s no doubt about that.
We’re welcomed to the Morina Marquee Reception. They immediately serve us some tastings: Hibiscus extract with tea and pimento, passion fruit, mint and coffee, then Chickpea hummus, crispy bread with sardines and paprika, Paté of saffron and honey, Mimetic peanut with Ras el Hanout, a mix of some 30 different spices popular across North Africa.
Twister cocktail for everyone, with confetti flying from above, and we finish with candied sugar and violets.
For reservations: sublimotionibiza.com
An outdoor trip or a journey to the other side of the planet? One thing is for sure: the destination is delicious, by Carlo Passera
by
journalist born in 1974, for many years he has covered politics, mostly, and food in his free time. Today he does exactly the opposite and this makes him very happy. As soon as he can, he dives into travels and good food. Identità Golose's editor in chief